Well after almost two months in Japan looking for radio's in thrift stores, second hand shops, flea markets and Yahoo Japan, I finally got my hands on a JVC / Victor RC-838. This radio came from Yahoo Japan and I have to say, that was a serious under taking! I did not use an out side company and learned allot about the process of trying to buy with out a 3rd party company. All I can say right now is that was a P.I.T.A.
Aside from all that, I received the radio this afternoon.
I did indeed only pay $4.60 for the radio and another $18.00 in shipping for a grand total of $22.60.
The radio is completely functional but extremely dirty. In the auction the seller said that the tuner did not work, I believe it had a bad connection because the radio works fine for me. All the switches on this radio will have to be cleaned with some DeOxit as the switches are hit and miss, but everything works. The slider volume, bass and treble operate without any crackle!
I opened it up and it is packed with dust! The speaker grills are full as well as every orifice. The inside of this box is PACKED with electronics and it weighs allot! Very solidly build, but certainly not a 1980's radio! Over all it's in good condition with no cracks in the case, only a few small dents in the aluminum face plate and the plastic chrome will clean up nice.
It showed up packed moderately, only wrapped in a thin layer of bubble wrap and newspaper packed in around it. But the cardboard box was in great shape which tells me the Japanese postal service doesn't play soccer with the boxes like they do in the States.
I blew out most of the dust and wiped it down inside and outside. I plan to pull it down and scrub it up when I get home as there will be soldering involved. I will do belts at that time as well.
Below are some pictures and a video:
Stay tuned, because in a month or so, I'll be posting the full tear down, cleaning, re-belt and rebuild of this classic box!
(The volume was a bit to much for the camera I used to record, sorry about that! The radio actually was very clean sounding)
[youtube]Hh3YOw5rriA[/youtube]
I know I can't live without my radio!
Aside from all that, I received the radio this afternoon.
I did indeed only pay $4.60 for the radio and another $18.00 in shipping for a grand total of $22.60.
The radio is completely functional but extremely dirty. In the auction the seller said that the tuner did not work, I believe it had a bad connection because the radio works fine for me. All the switches on this radio will have to be cleaned with some DeOxit as the switches are hit and miss, but everything works. The slider volume, bass and treble operate without any crackle!
I opened it up and it is packed with dust! The speaker grills are full as well as every orifice. The inside of this box is PACKED with electronics and it weighs allot! Very solidly build, but certainly not a 1980's radio! Over all it's in good condition with no cracks in the case, only a few small dents in the aluminum face plate and the plastic chrome will clean up nice.
It showed up packed moderately, only wrapped in a thin layer of bubble wrap and newspaper packed in around it. But the cardboard box was in great shape which tells me the Japanese postal service doesn't play soccer with the boxes like they do in the States.
I blew out most of the dust and wiped it down inside and outside. I plan to pull it down and scrub it up when I get home as there will be soldering involved. I will do belts at that time as well.
Below are some pictures and a video:
Stay tuned, because in a month or so, I'll be posting the full tear down, cleaning, re-belt and rebuild of this classic box!
(The volume was a bit to much for the camera I used to record, sorry about that! The radio actually was very clean sounding)
[youtube]Hh3YOw5rriA[/youtube]
I know I can't live without my radio!
Do that here and that same box'll arrive f*cked up! 
That's why, if a box from Japan arrives damaged in any kind of way, I'll blame the U.S. postal workers. 
From what I can tell, back in the 80's, he only took pictures with 3 boxes, and two of those were JVC's. 
.
